Is this what transition looks like?

[saunders_heroes]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

Isn't that what we have scouts for?

[Clampy]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

Isn't that what we have scouts for?

Of course and those scouts found Benteke, Bacuna, Vlaar, Okore etc.

I'm just throwing it open to people on here to suggest names. It's what forum's are for.

[Concrete John]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

Isn't that what we have scouts for?

Of course and those scouts found Benteke, Bacuna, Vlaar, Okore etc.

I'm just throwing it open to people on here to suggest names. It's what forum's are for.

I think Helenius may have been brought in with a view to developing into that sort of player.  He seems to have an eye for a pass to play there, but is a striker dropping deeper as opposed to a midfielder getting further forward.

[Monty]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

Isn't that what we have scouts for?

Indeed, but there's a point to be made here as well. We know he wanted both Kozak and an attacking midfielder for several months, meaning that the Kozak money was separate from the attacking midfielder money. However, we don't know how much was available for the attacking midfielder and, had we not bought Kozak, we don't know how much of a difference that extra £7m would have made. So, it's hard to 'name names' because obviously we don't know many great playmakers available for £7m and under, but if it were, say, £14m, then there's lots of players we could have bought.

I like Lambert - he's not my ideal manager, but there does seem to be a good reason behind most of his actions, and his mistakes tend to be miscalculations rather than blundering idiocies. That said, the issue of the playmaker does seem a miscalculation to me, and one which many people thought was one at the time, so this isn't just '20-20 hindsight'.

[eastie]

Helenius is too tall and not agile enough for the number 10 role in my view , kiyotake is the one most seem to fancy in the role .

Lambert seems to have a top heavy squad with a plethora of strikers none of whom provide natural width , having spent £43m on players so far he has still not addressed the lack of creativity and width problems that seem to hold us back.

[brontebilly]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

Isn't that what we have scouts for?

Of course and those scouts found Benteke, Bacuna, Vlaar, Okore etc.

I'm just throwing it open to people on here to suggest names. It's what forum's are for.

Benteke sure has proven to have been an exceptional find, Bacuna looks very solid at right back but perhaps was bought to play in midfield. I liked the look of Okore but he only played a few games. Jury is still out on Vlaar for me, he was awful last season.

Re midfielders that we could have gone for last summer within the 7m-10m budget mark.

Gareth Barry - suggested by probably 75% of Villa supporters.
Ashley Young
Tomas Rosicky
Jonathan De Guzman
Mathieu Valbuena
Alessandro Diamanti
Fabrizio Miccoli (34 but available on a free last summer)
Kevin De Bruyne
Ivan Rakitic

[paul_e]

What we know:
-Lambert does his homework on players (Westwood 30page dossier)
-He's willing to wait on players he thinks are right for us (first contact regarding Kozak was at the start of the season)
-He's enquired about attacking midfielders (Belhanda and Kiyotake were both reported as us having made enquiries, we confirmed we'd made contact regarding Kiyotake)

What we don't know:
-How much was asked for for the players we enquired about
-If there are other players we made enquires for
-How much money is available, is there a limit or is it a case of being sensible?
-If Lerner has ever said no to Lambert

All this leads me to believe that Lambert knows we need that player and actively wants to recruit for that position but no one was available for a fee he was happy to pay during the summer.  If I'm right, whilst it is disappointing we didn't get the player we need, I'm happier with this approach than signing the wrong player or paying the wrong fee out of panic, very few panic buys work out well.

[Dave]

Gareth Barry - suggested by probably 75% of Villa supporters.
Ashley Young
Tomas Rosicky
Jonathan De Guzman
Mathieu Valbuena
Alessandro Diamanti
Fabrizio Miccoli (34 but available on a free last summer)
Kevin De Bruyne
Ivan Rakitic

There's no way we'd have got De Bruyne, Rakitic or Valbuena for 7-10m. Miccoli is a centre-forward.

Diamanti seems to be better than in his West Ham days, but he looked to be the type who wouldn't adapt particularly well to the league. De Guzman wouldn't have been bad, but I don't see why he would have chosen to come to us over Swansea.

[Chris Smith]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

Isn't that what we have scouts for?

Of course and those scouts found Benteke, Bacuna, Vlaar, Okore etc.

I'm just throwing it open to people on here to suggest names. It's what forum's are for.

Benteke sure has proven to have been an exceptional find, Bacuna looks very solid at right back but perhaps was bought to play in midfield. I liked the look of Okore but he only played a few games. Jury is still out on Vlaar for me, he was awful last season.

Re midfielders that we could have gone for last summer within the 7m-10m budget mark.

Gareth Barry - suggested by probably 75% of Villa supporters.
Ashley Young
Tomas Rosicky
Jonathan De Guzman
Mathieu Valbuena
Alessandro Diamanti
Fabrizio Miccoli (34 but available on a free last summer)
Kevin De Bruyne
Ivan Rakitic

I think we have to get away from the idea that we're going to be back in the market for high earners with no sell on value should things go tits up.

[Clampy]

What we know:
-Lambert does his homework on players (Westwood 30page dossier)
-He's willing to wait on players he thinks are right for us (first contact regarding Kozak was at the start of the season)
-He's enquired about attacking midfielders (Belhanda and Kiyotake were both reported as us having made enquiries, we confirmed we'd made contact regarding Kiyotake)

What w

What we know:
-Lambert does his homework on players (Westwood 30page dossier)
-He's willing to wait on players he thinks are right for us (first contact regarding Kozak was at the start of the season)
-He's enquired about attacking midfielders (Belhanda and Kiyotake were both reported as us having made enquiries, we confirmed we'd made contact regarding Kiyotake)

What we don't know:
-How much was asked for for the players we enquired about
-If there are other players we made enquires for
-How much money is available, is there a limit or is it a case of being sensible?
-If Lerner has ever said no to Lambert

All this leads me to believe that Lambert knows we need that player and actively wants to recruit for that position but no one was available for a fee he was happy to pay during the summer.  If I'm right, whilst it is disappointing we didn't get the player we need, I'm happier with this approach than signing the wrong player or paying the wrong fee out of panic, very few panic buys work out well.

e don't know:
-How much was asked for for the players we enquired about
-If there are other players we made enquires for
-How much money is available, is there a limit or is it a case of being sensible?
-If Lerner has ever said no to Lambert

All this leads me to believe that Lambert knows we need that player and actively wants to recruit for that position but no one was available for a fee he was happy to pay during the summer.  If I'm right, whilst it is disappointing we didn't get the player we need, I'm happier with this approach than signing the wrong player or paying the wrong fee out of panic, very few panic buys work out well.

Pretty well sums up my take on it.

[not3bad]

Gareth Barry - suggested by probably 75% of Villa supporters.

Most Villa fans I saw the opinion of dreamed of getting James Milner back but thought Gareth Barry was past it.

[Concrete John]

Gareth Barry isn't a number 10 anyway.

I think wages may be as big, if not bigger, issue than finding the right player for a fee of £7-10m.

[pauliewalnuts]

All this leads me to believe that Lambert knows we need that player and actively wants to recruit for that position but no one was available for a fee he was happy to pay during the summer.  If I'm right, whilst it is disappointing we didn't get the player we need, I'm happier with this approach than signing the wrong player or paying the wrong fee out of panic, very few panic buys work out well.

Whilst by and large I agree with what you're saying, why does the alternative to getting the player he really wants have to be signing the wrong player or panic buying?

I find it hard to believe he just has "target number 1" and no back up options for his transfer moves. In fact, I would imagine a few of the players we have bought over the last year or two will not have been his first choice - that's just the way it is, pretty much at every club.

[JUAN PABLO]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

to be fair , no one comes up with the names that Lambert signs .

[pauliewalnuts]

There's been a lot of talk about us needing a 'number 10' or that the Kozak money should have been better spent. There's an argument for both but not many people have come up with any names.

to be fair , no one comes up with the names that Lambert signs .

I don't really see why fans should feel like they have to come up with any names, to be honest. Likewise, I don't see why Lambert should pay much attention to what fans say when deciding his transfer targets (see above 75% of Villa fans wanted Barry back, for example).