Summer 2013: Villa Transfers, Speculation, Suggestions and Rumours

[danlanza]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

Congratulations, Dan, for being the one person guaranteed to entirely miss the point.

Not even July yet. Stop panicking.

[pauliewalnuts]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

Congratulations, Dan, for being the one person guaranteed to entirely miss the point.

Not even July yet. Stop panicking.

I know it isn't July yet, thanks, which is why I referred several times to the need to also sign other players this summer.

I'm not panicking, either, thanks for the patronising note. I also didn't suggest it was doom and gloom.

For what it's worth, I also said nothing about the young players being shit and needed to be sent back, either. Which you'd have noted, if you'd actually read the post.

[Dante Lavelli]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

I think you've spectacularly missed the point there Dan, it's not moaning it's keeping some perspective.  It's unfair on the new signings to expect them to walk straight into the team and improve things. 

[danlanza]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

Congratulations, Dan, for being the one person guaranteed to entirely miss the point.

Not even July yet. Stop panicking.

I know it isn't July yet, thanks, which is why I referred several times to the need to also sign other players this summer.

I'm not panicking, either, thanks for the patronising note. I also didn't suggest it was doom and gloom.

For what it's worth, I also said nothing about the young players being shit and needed to be sent back, either. Which you'd have noted, if you'd actually read the post.

Was not being patronising at all. Sorry if it came across that way.

[pauliewalnuts]

Despite the general happiness on here at the moment having brought in three new players, I think there's going to be a reality check later in the summer when we start to see how other teams are strengthening with quality. Right now only Jores looks like he will walk into our side. The other two are for now, just squad strengtheners.

There's an awful lot of faith being put in a group that had the third worst defensive record (the other two were relegated) and only managed to score 47 goals over 38 games, despite having a strike force of Benteke, Gabby and Weimann. Whilst I admire Lambert and the board's loyalty to the current squad, it shouldn't mean we don't continuously look to bring in improvements.

I entirely agree with you.

Obviously, some of our younger players will have matured after last season, but I can't help but think that just adding more young players, whilst it means we can rejoice in our ability to find young promise, is not really going to be enough to improve on last season significantly.

Helenius has done well, yes, in the Danish league. Okore had that decent game against Chelsea and looks like a good athlete. Tonev? Have any of us seen him play yet? Bacuna?

All promising young players, and I am as excited as anyone for next season - at the very least, it'll be very, very interesting again. I do think, though, that a lot of people are overlooking the fact we've a squad very short of proven quality, and short of experience.

It'd make sense to add the odd experienced head into the mix. No, that doesn't mean replacing Weimann with someone on the basis they're older, and it doesn't mean buying experienced players for the sake of it. I mean to add them where we think they'd contribute.

We played much of last season with a defence of Bennett, Lowton, Vlaar and Baker or Clark. We managed a 25 (or so) game run with not a single clean sheet. If that continues next season, we are going to struggle, no doubt about it. We need to significantly improve things there. Is the addition of Okore enough? I find it hard to believe.

I like the look of Okore, but let's be realistic regarding how much he can add, moving up to the PL (and see Martin Laursen's comments on the OS regarding him and Helenius and how they need time for more on this). I've seen Helenius mooted as one of the players we have on the bench who can replace anyone in our front line with no drop in quality. Really? That's a big shout for a player with so little experience, and at such a lower level.

I am a massive fan of Lambert and what he is trying to do, and I am not being negative for the sake of it, but really, we've still got a lot of transfer work to do before our squad will be anything like strong enough.

Here's hoping we do it.

We are an experienced defender and centre mid short to hold their hand in an ideal world. Lescott and Parker would probably do wonders for us, but it is not going to happen. I m pleased we have more options but would still like another 3-4 players in.

found myself thinking lots of times last year how much stronger we'd have been for the addition of Petrov to the side. Not just for his ability on the pitch, but also his role in being a calming figure who has seen it all before.

That hideous run over Christmas last year, for example, produced a hangover which lasted for weeks and weeks. That was the one time we really did look like we were suffering as a result of being such a young bunch of players, we found it so hard to throw it off.

[Shrek]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

I think you've spectacularly missed the point there Dan, it's not moaning it's keeping some perspective.  It's unfair on the new signings to expect them to walk straight into the team and improve things. 

Isn't that the point, we don't need them to walk into the team? We have a good starting eleven, provided Benteke stays that is and the new lads can slowly bed themselves in.

[pauliewalnuts]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

Congratulations, Dan, for being the one person guaranteed to entirely miss the point.

Not even July yet. Stop panicking.

I know it isn't July yet, thanks, which is why I referred several times to the need to also sign other players this summer.

I'm not panicking, either, thanks for the patronising note. I also didn't suggest it was doom and gloom.

For what it's worth, I also said nothing about the young players being shit and needed to be sent back, either. Which you'd have noted, if you'd actually read the post.

Was not being patronising at all. Sorry if it came across that way.

It'd have been a better idea to read what I actually said originally, the last thing I wanted to suggest was that there's anything wrong with giving youth its chance, far from it, as I said, I am totally behind Lambert as a manager.

Adding the odd bit of nous to the squad doesn't mean all the kids are shit.

[Ian.]

I tend to agree as well, there is still massive work to be done and improvements needed. We need to maintain the form from Mid February and hope we keep our best players fit as numbers will be thin again.
It is a very exciting but also a very nervy approach to establishing ourselves again. If we do though it might be for a longer term than our usual 3 seasons in the top 6.
Hopefully if we keep improving this young team might have the balls to win us a cup along the way and put some silver where in our, erm missing trophy cabinet.

[danlanza]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

Congratulations, Dan, for being the one person guaranteed to entirely miss the point.

Not even July yet. Stop panicking.

I know it isn't July yet, thanks, which is why I referred several times to the need to also sign other players this summer.

I'm not panicking, either, thanks for the patronising note. I also didn't suggest it was doom and gloom.

For what it's worth, I also said nothing about the young players being shit and needed to be sent back, either. Which you'd have noted, if you'd actually read the post.

Was not being patronising at all. Sorry if it came across that way.

It'd have been a better idea to read what I actually said originally, the last thing I wanted to suggest was that there's anything wrong with giving youth its chance, far from it, as I said, I am totally behind Lambert as a manager.

Adding the odd bit of nous to the squad doesn't mean all the kids are shit.

That was my mistake, did not read the post properly. Appologies.

[pauliewalnuts]

Send all the new signings back. Doom and gloom again. Bloody hell.
One minute it is good to sign young ,the next we are talking about just escaping relegation, again. Meh.

I think you've spectacularly missed the point there Dan, it's not moaning it's keeping some perspective.  It's unfair on the new signings to expect them to walk straight into the team and improve things. 

Isn't that the point, we don't need them to walk into the team? We have a good starting eleven, provided Benteke stays that is and the new lads can slowly bed themselves in.

That starting eleven finished 15th last season, so not that good, for all the promise.

It'll be better next season for the extra experience, if nothing at all, but for this project to work, it has to keep on improving.

Regarding bedding in, yes, they definitely do need time, but I do wonder if people are underestimating how much time they're going to need. Already there are people deciding Bowery isn't good enough, for example. Why do they think Helenius is going to be much better in the very short term?

Maybe Okore could get in for the opening game, but Tonev, Helenius and Bacuna must surely be filed as young products to develop over time, certainly not players who are going to considerably improve the starting XI from the off.

That's the point Rudy Lambert was making in the post that kicked this off, I thought.

We need these players to develop as well as they can, and part of it is going to mean not demanding too much from them too quickly, and not being too quick to write them off.

[danlanza]

Surely we will have a lot more insight when the pre-season starts. He will give all the players a good run out you would think. It should be very interesting.

[Ian.]

I have got to say last season was a roller coaster and most of said it would be. We had some big highs and some very low lows, lower than we ever imagined. That period from the Liverpool game was quite unbelievable. We got through it somehow and ended up looking pretty bloody good at times.

I thought Lambert had lost it at some points and I thought he looked a bit shot. Fair play to him because he got us playing again and keeping the criticism away from the team was a masterstroke. He certainly did pick us up again.

[onje_villa]

To be fair to Dan, we're pretty happy with the likes of Benteke, Lowton and Westwood as stalwarts of our team now and yet at the time they weren't proven. I see no reason why at least some of them won't establish themselves in the first team over the course of the season.

I do see Paulie's point about experience but I'm just enjoying the journey too much at the moment to focus on it

[nigel]

I entirely agree with you.

Obviously, some of our younger players will have matured after last season, but I can't help but think that just adding more young players, whilst it means we can rejoice in our ability to find young promise, is not really going to be enough to improve on last season significantly.

Helenius has done well, yes, in the Danish league. Okore had that decent game against Chelsea and looks like a good athlete. Tonev? Have any of us seen him play yet? Bacuna?

All promising young players, and I am as excited as anyone for next season - at the very least, it'll be very, very interesting again. I do think, though, that a lot of people are overlooking the fact we've a squad very short of proven quality, and short of experience.

It'd make sense to add the odd experienced head into the mix. No, that doesn't mean replacing Weimann with someone on the basis they're older, and it doesn't mean buying experienced players for the sake of it. I mean to add them where we think they'd contribute.

We played much of last season with a defence of Bennett, Lowton, Vlaar and Baker or Clark. We managed a 25 (or so) game run with not a single clean sheet. If that continues next season, we are going to struggle, no doubt about it. We need to significantly improve things there. Is the addition of Okore enough? I find it hard to believe.

I like the look of Okore, but let's be realistic regarding how much he can add, moving up to the PL (and see Martin Laursen's comments on the OS regarding him and Helenius and how they need time for more on this). I've seen Helenius mooted as one of the players we have on the bench who can replace anyone in our front line with no drop in quality. Really? That's a big shout for a player with so little experience, and at such a lower level.

I am a massive fan of Lambert and what he is trying to do, and I am not being negative for the sake of it, but really, we've still got a lot of transfer work to do before our squad will be anything like strong enough.

Here's hoping we do it.

Like you, and the vast majority of us, I haven't seen any of them play, in fact, I can honestly say I hadn't heard of them either.
The important thing is, Lambert and his team have seen them play, and that's good enough for me.
We have to buy into what he's doing. It's certainly not going to happen over night, but I feel that we could be in a position to shock a few teams this season.

[pauliewalnuts]

I entirely agree with you.

Obviously, some of our younger players will have matured after last season, but I can't help but think that just adding more young players, whilst it means we can rejoice in our ability to find young promise, is not really going to be enough to improve on last season significantly.

Helenius has done well, yes, in the Danish league. Okore had that decent game against Chelsea and looks like a good athlete. Tonev? Have any of us seen him play yet? Bacuna?

All promising young players, and I am as excited as anyone for next season - at the very least, it'll be very, very interesting again. I do think, though, that a lot of people are overlooking the fact we've a squad very short of proven quality, and short of experience.

It'd make sense to add the odd experienced head into the mix. No, that doesn't mean replacing Weimann with someone on the basis they're older, and it doesn't mean buying experienced players for the sake of it. I mean to add them where we think they'd contribute.

We played much of last season with a defence of Bennett, Lowton, Vlaar and Baker or Clark. We managed a 25 (or so) game run with not a single clean sheet. If that continues next season, we are going to struggle, no doubt about it. We need to significantly improve things there. Is the addition of Okore enough? I find it hard to believe.

I like the look of Okore, but let's be realistic regarding how much he can add, moving up to the PL (and see Martin Laursen's comments on the OS regarding him and Helenius and how they need time for more on this). I've seen Helenius mooted as one of the players we have on the bench who can replace anyone in our front line with no drop in quality. Really? That's a big shout for a player with so little experience, and at such a lower level.

I am a massive fan of Lambert and what he is trying to do, and I am not being negative for the sake of it, but really, we've still got a lot of transfer work to do before our squad will be anything like strong enough.

Here's hoping we do it.

Like you, and the vast majority of us, I haven't seen any of them play, in fact, I can honestly say I hadn't heard of them either.
The important thing is, Lambert and his team have seen them play, and that's good enough for me.
We have to buy into what he's doing. It's certainly not going to happen over night, but I feel that we could be in a position to shock a few teams this season.

Of course Lambert will have seen something he likes, but cautioning against unrealistic expectations from young players moving up several levels in one jump doesn't mean not buying into what we're doing, not at all.