Summer 2013: Villa Transfers, Speculation, Suggestions and Rumours

[olaftab]

Diego Costa going to Liverpool. He s a Nast bastard and if Suarez stays that pair would suit the "victim" club right down to the ground.





And Villa link is that if he is any good we should sign him next season!

[Concrete John]

Speaking about players I wish we'd signed, or in this case kept, is Michael Bradley. Another reason why I wanted to see how the Houllier plan would have panned out.

Looking back, that Houllier year was one of the weirdest we've ever had.

Starting badly with that "can't come till Wolves" thing, then a series of embarassing foot in mouth episodes, some abysmal results, shattering our spending record on a striker few thought would have come to us, Houllier getting ill, things starting to get better under McAllister, and then it all ended.

Things looked sufficiently improved towards the end that even a half decent managerial appointment might have caused us to continue to improve, and to pass the ball more, and put behind us the bad things which had happened that season.

Instead, we did the one thing, more than any other, that we could have done to throw away all the positives we could have taken from a mostly wretched season, and appointed McLeish, who, even if you could get over the other objections, made zero sense in terms of football style.

That approaching Martinez one week then turning to McLeish the next was just such a lurch from one style to the diametric opposite, it made no sense at all.

I have no idea what is said within the inner sanctum at Villa Park about this, so it's all just my suspicion, but I would not be at all surprised if Houllier was the one manager they've appointed who frustrated them the most, and who gets discussed least often.

In fact, it reminds me of the Venglos season in a way.

I wasn't happy with the Houllier appointment, but could see what we were trying to achieve by it as the season went on.  And then he got ill. 

If you add his medical issues to his general lack of respect for the club, then he was basically the wrong man with the right ideas.  Those ideas were not disimilar to Lambert's, so had he come in 12 months earlier we would have seen a clear direction the board were trying to take the club in.  What happened inbetween would tax the analytical powers of Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple's love child.   

[Toronto Villa]

I think GH was the right guy, but everything was wrong around him. We needed a strong character to change the culture at the club and change the brand of football. He was just too unhealthy to accomplish that and especially given it was right on the back of MON leaving. Too many strong characters at the club, too much to fix and all put together at a chaotic time and in a chaotic manner. He was doing the right thing, in taking on those characters and looking at players that were technically gifted. He also had talented players still on the books that wanted to play that way.

We'll never figure out McLeish. I think after GH they still needed the strong character but on just about every other level they got it totally wrong. All very well documented. Now with Lambert we not only have the strong character but also a manager that wants to be here and plays exactly the type of football we all want to see. I can see why they wanted Moyes, but in my opinion in time we might have got the best of the bunch in Lambert.

[pauliewalnuts]

The thing with Houllier, is that a lot of people who thought it was a poor appointment could at least see the reasoning behind it.

With McLeish, it was pretty much impossible to see any sensible reason to do that.

[ozzjim]

It will forever be totally impossible to understand. Much like the unexplained things that occur in the world, appointing him is just totally mind boggling.

[Toronto Villa]

It will forever be totally impossible to understand. Much like the unexplained things that occur in the world, appointing him is just totally mind boggling.

It's easier to explain frogs falling from the sky in Peru than the TSM appointment.

[supertom]

I just call it Randy's rebellious faze.

[Malandro]

Randy needed a really unpopular appointment to deflect the attention from his squad purging

[Percy McCarthy]

And to think Small Heath are probably still spending some of that compensation on light bulbs or toilet rolls or Highland League Bosmans.

[Mister E]

I just call it Randy's rebellious faze.

Certainly fazed me.
I agreed with all the comments immediately above about Houllier. I was not a fan but respected where he was seemingly trying to take us. What I simply cannot understand is why the Board did not start season 2011-12 with McAllister in charge. I know that his managerial credentials were a little thin but he had done a decent job at the end of the previous season and GHou could have provided a DoF type role behind him.
I can only imagine that GHou's plans included another period of high spend as well as the removal of the key saboteurs (Dunne, Collins, Warnock, etc) - a plan that the Board could not support. Ironically, we'd have got much more back in the transfer market for the troublemakers back then and reduced the wage bill.

Lurching to TSM was sheer madness - even if the Board saw it as a year's 'interim' management while the preferred candidates could be properly identified and tapped up. A better interim for a year might have been KMac or even someone like BFR.

[OCD]

I think with McLeish it was just a moment of panic which led to a poor decision. We wanted Martinez and it didn't work out, we were getting to a point where the players would be reporting for training and transfer business needed to be planned and executed.

Appointing McAllister as manager and Houllier as DoF makes perfect sense in lack of a better alternative but I think we had already agreed their release so there was no realistic way back.

The thing is Blues replaced McLeish with the available Hughton, who would have been suitable for us.

I don't know how true it is, but there was a rumour that Lerner was thinking about appointing Lambert at the time we gave the job to McLeish but his advisors were put off by the lack of Premier League experience (something specifically mentioned as a key requirement in the appointment at the time).

[VinnieChase84]

I will never ever understand the appointment of TSM. It was just pure madness and came out of nowhere. It was never going to end well. Of all the rumours/speculation I've read regarding his appointment. I wouldn't be surprised if it was pure deflection of blame from the board while the cloth was cut

[tomd2103]

The worst thing is, its not a bullet dodged. I genuinely think he would have done well here, He has let himself down by making a bad choice. Hes not the first person in history to aim higher than he should have and to be fair, spurs are ahead of us at the moment so he cant be blamed.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I imagine he would not have rejected us had he known then what he knows now

I agree that particular opportunity has passed, but he is exactly the kind of player we could do with now.

[ozzjim]

The worst thing is, its not a bullet dodged. I genuinely think he would have done well here, He has let himself down by making a bad choice. Hes not the first person in history to aim higher than he should have and to be fair, spurs are ahead of us at the moment so he cant be blamed.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I imagine he would not have rejected us had he known then what he knows now

I agree that particular opportunity has passed, but he is exactly the kind of player we could do with now.

I agree, and think he would still be a good signing now for 2-3 million. He is a very good player, and the level we are at would do really well for us.

[olaftab]

This chap Lugano, fullback,  Boggies have signed fron PSG did he play any first team games for PSG lad season?



The Villa link is if he is any good.....