Based on what youve seen in the Summer who would you keep who would showthe door

[paul_e]

What if the next one he hits for 35 yards flies in the top corner and gives him the confidence he's been missing?  You can see him hitting shots like that in Poland and the talk seems to be that he does just that in training so I don;t see the harm in waiting for more than the 9 or 10 starts he's had so far.

[Matt Collins]

Hard to argue with most of that, although I'd swap the Clark and Baker ones around.

Agreed and I think that would be the case.  Lambert has a high opinion of Clark I think.

How could anyone rate baker over clark on the evidence of this season?

[Matt Collins]

If we'd have had this thread three to five years ago- and I'm sure we did- I wonder what the consensus would have been on:

Craig Gardner
Liam ridgewell
Phil bardsley
Steven Davis
Wayne routledge

Because i bet it would have been 'not good enough' or even 'not prem quality'.

All of those players would now improve our side.

I think we should be less hasty to completely write people off

[Ads]

Liam Ridgewell is utter shite, so say the Albion fans I know. I am inclined to agree with them.

[Matt Collins]

He'd walk into our team ahead of luna. And by definition he is a prem player as he's been playing in prem sides for about five consecutive years

[Ads]

Not for me. All I ever hear is how utter shite Ridgewell is at full back.

[Concrete John]

If we'd have had this thread three to five years ago- and I'm sure we did- I wonder what the consensus would have been on:

Craig Gardner
Liam ridgewell
Phil bardsley
Steven Davis
Wayne routledge

Because i bet it would have been 'not good enough' or even 'not prem quality'.

All of those players would now improve our side.

I think we should be less hasty to completely write people off

5 years ago we were a much better side than we are now, so it's hardly a fair comparison.

[Merv]

The players I'd be prepared to release or sell, based on what I've seen so far this season, are:

Herd
Bowery
Tonev

Luna, Bennett, Baker and Gardner have some convincing to do between now and May.

Obviously, the likes of Given, Hutton, Ireland and Bent I've already written off.

[SoccerHQ]

You'd imagine there will be a cull in central midfield as this will obviously be a priority in the next 6 months as we're already seeing with Hoolahan.

I'd cut our loses on KEA. He's had some decent games this season but overall his plodding nature emphasises how utterly average we are in central midfield compared to most other teams we play. Not many have mentioned Sylla. He has been very disappointing considering the level he was showing at the end of last season so wouldn't shock me if he went.

I normally give players time but I really haven't seen anything from Tonev to suggest in time he's going to be a decent premier league player so I'd look to move him on and CNZ to allow us room to bring in a decent wide player.

[ChicagoLion]

What if the next one he hits for 35 yards flies in the top corner and gives him the confidence he's been missing?  You can see him hitting shots like that in Poland and the talk seems to be that he does just that in training so I don;t see the harm in waiting for more than the 9 or 10 starts he's had so far.

I think he is more likely to hit a Pig flying over the Holte End.

Obviously you and Lambert can see something there that I don't, I hope you are both right.

[villa kicks]

I would like villa to keep expiring contact players herd , gards  and albrighton but move on the fonz

[Loxton01]

After yesterday's good win we should and I express the word should stay up.

The summer is huge to me if we are to ever break out of the shackles of the same old every season.

We are a million miles away from the top six or seven clubs however with some investment [40m] and some good purchases of players who are ready for the first team in my opinion we should be challenging the middle of the table southampton newcastle etc.

Having had a few further months I think it is clear to me Lambert wont be leaving so he has got to get this transfer window right. Not buy alot of unknowns like last season the large majority have flopped.


In terms of players leaving I put in the following brackets

Def GO
Given [50K]
Hutton [40K]
NZog [50K]
Fonz [15K]
Bowery [10K]
Luna [20K]
Sylla [15K]
Tonev [10K]
Helenius [10K]
Bent [60K]

The 10 above players clearly Lambert wants out or doesnt rate or has been a complete disaster. Some are out of contract others I would take big losses just to get them off the wage bill. I reckon theres a saving of 280-300K a week.


For the right offer

Bennett
Ciaran Clark
Lowton [because I think Lambert has fallen out with him]


The above two players I dont think are good enough for Aston Villa Football Club however we will need 25 players next season and these may have to stay next season

Leaves Squad of

Keepers

Guzan and Steer - Ok

RB

Bacuna and Lowton - if Lowton goes we need a new RB

LB

Need two new ones

CB

Vlaar Baker Okore - need another one

Midfielder

Delph
Westwood
El Ahmadi
Albrighton [new deal]
Gardner [new deal - 1 year last chance saloon]
Two new ones

Strikers
Benteke
Gabby
Weimann
Kozak
Need a new one

Youth

Carruthers/Grealish/Drennan/Robinson

From my review I think we need 6 new players. 5 first team players and one back. With 40 million and the wages from the ridding of the deadwood I genuinely feel we could then challenge for top 8-10.

[PeterWithesShin]

Neither Sylla or Helenius fall into the categories you list for binning players.

[Ads]

I wouldn't necessarily get rid of anybody.

The problem we have got is that much of the squad lacks both age and maturity, which has an effect on quality output. Look at how greatly we are influenced by a talisman and confidence.

There are a lot of decent players who can do a good job in a squad, but lack the consistency to do it week in week out. If we can bring in Bertrand, a right back and two or three good midfielders with our £20 odd million, then I think we will find that consistency that has alluded us for a long time.

[eastie]

Based on what I've seen this season then luna and Bowery would be the main two to go - jury is out on a few others who may be squad players at best .