The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[paul_e]

there is a book called 'the nowhere men' by michael calvin. it's about football scouting, and comolli is in it.

he's another 'moneyball' guy...

To be honest anyone who works in scouting for a club outside the top 15-20 in Europe should be.  Buying relative unknowns and turning them into superstars who improve your team and then leave for a massive profit, that's the goal.  The key is that you have to be fucking good at it, Comolli has Bale to his name (although he only deserves a share of the credit, he bought an above average young fullback who was very nearly sold at a loss, it was only when Bale was later converted to an attacking midfielder that he became a star) and that's about it.  Suarez and Modric, whilst going for a profit, were already very highly rated and were clearly capable of being the players they became.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I'd rather stick with Paddy Riley than have Comolli anywhere near the club.

[Hookeysmith]

I'd rather stick with Paddy Riley than have Comolli anywhere near the club.

Seconded

[ozzjim]

Me too

[Phil from the upper holte]

I'd rather stick with Paddy Riley than have Comolli anywhere near the club.

Seconded

He must be worse than I thought

[paul_e]

I'd rather keep riley as well. To swim against the tide somewhat I'm not sure he deserves the amount of stick he gets on here because I'm not sure how bad a job he did.

The general consensus is that he was behind most of the foreign signings last summer so Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Traore and Ayew.  Of those I'd argue that Amavi looked good before he got injured, Traore has been criminally underused and Ayew and Gana have been the 2 best players for us so only really Veretout has been disappointing(but I think there's a good player in there).  We can maybe drop Ilori and Crespo on him as well but I view both of those as long shots that failed which i don't really mind.  We wouldn't make a profit on any of them but as I've posted on the transfer I'd be looking to keep all of the original 5 I named for next season.

[tomd2103]

I'd rather keep riley as well. To swim against the tide somewhat I'm not sure he deserves the amount of stick he gets on here because I'm not sure how bad a job he did.

The general consensus is that he was behind most of the foreign signings last summer so Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Traore and Ayew.  Of those I'd argue that Amavi looked good before he got injured, Traore has been criminally underused and Ayew and Gana have been the 2 best players for us so only really Veretout has been disappointing(but I think there's a good player in there).  We can maybe drop Ilori and Crespo on him as well but I view both of those as long shots that failed which i don't really mind.  We wouldn't make a profit on any of them but as I've posted on the transfer I'd be looking to keep all of the original 5 I named for next season.

What Reilly didn't show wax an understanding of the situation we were in and the type of player we needed in that situation.  He bought a couple of nice pictures to make the wall with a huge crack in it look nicer. 

[paul_e]

I'd rather keep riley as well. To swim against the tide somewhat I'm not sure he deserves the amount of stick he gets on here because I'm not sure how bad a job he did.

The general consensus is that he was behind most of the foreign signings last summer so Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Traore and Ayew.  Of those I'd argue that Amavi looked good before he got injured, Traore has been criminally underused and Ayew and Gana have been the 2 best players for us so only really Veretout has been disappointing(but I think there's a good player in there).  We can maybe drop Ilori and Crespo on him as well but I view both of those as long shots that failed which i don't really mind.  We wouldn't make a profit on any of them but as I've posted on the transfer I'd be looking to keep all of the original 5 I named for next season.

What Reilly didn't show wax an understanding of the situation we were in and the type of player we needed in that situation.  He bought a couple of nice pictures to make the wall with a huge crack in it look nicer. 

but dsid he, that's really the question.  We bought plenty of other players and Sherwood very proudly told the press that he had the final decision on all the players (until we were losing games and then he started blaming everyone else, the fucking weasel) so I don't know if that holds true.  I want a good scout, without influence from the manager, to identify good young players who have the potential to improve and build up a portfolio on them.  That way if the manager comes to his scout and says "I want a player that can do this job" the scout can give him 4-5 names along with videos, scout reports, etc and say these are the ones we've been keeping an eye on that might fit.  The manager then reviews those players and maybe watches them in a game or 2 (either live or via a video feed) and decides if they're what he wants and if they are we make a bid.  That doesn't, and shouldn't, stop the manager from having targets of his own who are also added to the squad if possible.  This clearly happened with the likes of Lescott and Richards.

In that context I think Riley has largely met the brief I'd set out and the bigger issue was that Sherwood had never signed anyone before and he made a massive cock-up of the whole process.  That Riley is still at the club suggests, to me, that King; Bernstein; Hollis and Little collectively (before the first 2 left) agree with me.

[old man villa fan]

I'd rather keep riley as well. To swim against the tide somewhat I'm not sure he deserves the amount of stick he gets on here because I'm not sure how bad a job he did.

The general consensus is that he was behind most of the foreign signings last summer so Amavi, Gana, Veretout, Traore and Ayew.  Of those I'd argue that Amavi looked good before he got injured, Traore has been criminally underused and Ayew and Gana have been the 2 best players for us so only really Veretout has been disappointing(but I think there's a good player in there).  We can maybe drop Ilori and Crespo on him as well but I view both of those as long shots that failed which i don't really mind.  We wouldn't make a profit on any of them but as I've posted on the transfer I'd be looking to keep all of the original 5 I named for next season.

What Reilly didn't show wax an understanding of the situation we were in and the type of player we needed in that situation.  He bought a couple of nice pictures to make the wall with a huge crack in it look nicer. 

but dsid he, that's really the question.  We bought plenty of other players and Sherwood very proudly told the press that he had the final decision on all the players (until we were losing games and then he started blaming everyone else, the fucking weasel) so I don't know if that holds true.  I want a good scout, without influence from the manager, to identify good young players who have the potential to improve and build up a portfolio on them.  That way if the manager comes to his scout and says "I want a player that can do this job" the scout can give him 4-5 names along with videos, scout reports, etc and say these are the ones we've been keeping an eye on that might fit.  The manager then reviews those players and maybe watches them in a game or 2 (either live or via a video feed) and decides if they're what he wants and if they are we make a bid.  That doesn't, and shouldn't, stop the manager from having targets of his own who are also added to the squad if possible.  This clearly happened with the likes of Lescott and Richards.

In that context I think Riley has largely met the brief I'd set out and the bigger issue was that Sherwood had never signed anyone before and he made a massive cock-up of the whole process.  That Riley is still at the club suggests, to me, that King; Bernstein; Hollis and Little collectively (before the first 2 left) agree with me.

I agree with most of what you said.  I believe Riley was there to identify players, possibly carry out initial negotiations but, as to what positions and type of player we needed must have been down to the manager.  If not, I am sure Sherwood would have been saying so very loudly in the summer.

[Witton Warrior]

Who is this  Damian Comolli ? Sounds like a baddie in a DC comic

Apparently he helped bring the weasel Downing to Anfield!
Great...

What does this mean? Downing was a good player.

it's the "weasel" bit, and the fact he was then shit

[Hookeysmith]

Growing momentum on radio about a Chinese consortium but with very little substance or detail to support it

Surely someone knows a little about who is heading it, who introducing them even if we don't know the actual group

[HolmesyVilla]

Growing momentum on radio about a Chinese consortium but with very little substance or detail to support it

Surely someone knows a little about who is heading it, who introducing them even if we don't know the actual group

Now I strangely got the urge to give someone a Chinese armburn!

[The Laughing Policeman]

Growing momentum on radio about a Chinese consortium but with very little substance or detail to support it

Surely someone knows a little about who is heading it, who introducing them even if we don't know the actual group

I'm sorry that's my fault. I was spotted coming out of my local Chinese in a Villa shirt and once again the media jumped to the wrong conclusion.

[Clampy]

Ah, the Chinese. A great bunch of lads.

[Walmley_Villa]

An honest bunch of lads (copyright Dolly)