Philippe Senderos

[olaftab]

He can play Full back too so versatile . When we need physicality and height at the back we may line up

Senderos Vlaar Clark Baker

I'm 100% certain that we will never line up with that formation. £100 to the charity of your choice if we do.

And after I've done that I'll probably slit my wrists at the type of football that we're aiming for with Senderos and Baker as full-backs.

I will take that with same amount to charity of your choice if they don't however 2 conditions. It counts if  the 4 are on pitch at the same time at any stage and if one of those leaves the club before the season starts bet is void?

[Clark W Griswold]

Kin 'ell.

Every player that comes here should start with a clean sheet, forget their history. Even Harewood.

We've had many shocks down the years, good and bad.

Who would have thought Curcic, Collymore, N'Zogbia, Ireland, Balaban etc would have been such a disaster?

Who would have predicted the ridiculous lack of football talent vs the money we paid, Alan Thompson, Steve Watson, Steve Sidwell etc

Who would have thought Platt, McGrath would have been world class?

Who would have thought Delaney, Southgate, Laursen, Mellberg etc would have been as good as they were?

Someone mentioned Leonardsen earlier. In his brief spell he did better than most people thought.

Always judge after they've played and had a chance.

[john e]

if we are judging Senderos on playing for a champions league side then he's not good enough,

but he's coming to Villa,
 perennial relegation battlers over the last 3/4 years, surely he's going to be good enough for us,
 I don't believe he is coming as a back up either I think he will be challenging for a first team place from the off, and with the present competition we could be seeing quite a lot of him next season

[Steve R]

I can't decide whether Sanderos sounds liike a magician or a bottle of toilet cleaner, so I am reserving judgement.

[LeeB]

I can't decide whether Sanderos sounds liike a magician or a bottle of toilet cleaner, so I am reserving judgement.

He sounds like Big Ron trying and failing to pronounce the surname of his star striker.

[Dlp]

Kin 'ell.

Every player that comes here should start with a clean sheet, forget their history. Even Harewood.

We've had many shocks down the years, good and bad.

Who would have thought Curcic, Collymore, N'Zogbia, Ireland, Balaban etc would have been such a disaster?

Who would have predicted the ridiculous lack of football talent vs the money we paid, Alan Thompson, Steve Watson, Steve Sidwell etc

Who would have thought Platt, McGrath would have been world class?

Who would have thought Delaney, Southgate, Laursen, Mellberg etc would have been as good as they were?

Someone mentioned Leonardsen earlier. In his brief spell he did better than most people thought.

Always judge after they've played and had a chance.

"always judge after they've played and had a chance"

Bang on, my sentiments entirely.

[curlytailavfc]

If this is the bright future were fucked

[pauliewalnuts]

I don't agree with automatically writing players off, but I have to say, I also don't agree with them "don't pre-judge them, just judge them on what they do for us, forget their history" line.

Are we supposed to totally ignore their careers so far in judging / evaluating players? Why?

It's just as well the people buying them for us don't do that.

[SoccerHQ]

if we are judging Senderos on playing for a champions league side then he's not good enough,

but he's coming to Villa,
 perennial relegation battlers over the last 3/4 years, surely he's going to be good enough for us,
 I don't believe he is coming as a back up either I think he will be challenging for a first team place from the off, and with the present competition we could be seeing quite a lot of him next season

Wasn't for Fulham.

I rate this as the same sort of level as Zat Knight really. Someone who looked majorly error prone at his last club.

Now Knight was lucky for a bit he played alongside someone as imperious as Laursen which covered his flaws which soon became apparent once Laursen got injured.

Just hope Ron stays and Okore stays fit so he'll only play the odd game as backup which I can live with.

[He wears a magic hat]

Nearly 100 appearances for Arsenal
Over 50 caps for a country ranked 6th in the world
Must be really shit
And we paid how much???
Fuck me I hate everything about our club

[pauliewalnuts]

Nearly 100 appearances for Arsenal
Over 50 caps for a country ranked 6th in the world

Statistics don't really mean a lot though. You could also say "140 league starts in 13 years", for example, and wonder about his injury record, or question whether Switzerland really are the 6th best team in the world.

If people are underwhelmed, it is because they don't rate him as a player, and - although it matters not now, because he has signed - they're judging him on what they've seen.

It doesn't mean they hate the club or they're mental or anything, it means they just disagree with you.

Football is largely subjective. It doesn't matter what team you're talking about, or what player, you'll always get a range of opinions from fans when their club makes a signing. It's hardly anything dramatic or new.

[SoccerHQ]

Nearly 100 appearances for Arsenal
Over 50 caps for a country ranked 6th in the world
Must be really shit
And we paid how much???
Fuck me I hate everything about our club

Djemba Djemba had a decent amount of caps for Cameroon, had won the French league with Nantes and had decent champions league experience...and he was shite. As was his twin.

I file this Senderos signing in that category. I don't expect him to be anything other than poor when he plays because that's how he's been for most of his career. At least it's only two years and he's not on some sort of Given pension contract.

[RussellC]

Are we supposed to totally ignore their careers so far in judging / evaluating players? Why?

It's just as well the people buying them for us don't do that.

They don't...?

[pauliewalnuts]

Are we supposed to totally ignore their careers so far in judging / evaluating players? Why?

It's just as well the people buying them for us don't do that.

They don't...?

Well, judging by the way they run the club, they're clearly off their faces on mindbending drugs, anyway, so they're hard to compare against.

[Sexual Ealing]

Nearly 100 appearances for Arsenal
Over 50 caps for a country ranked 6th in the world

It doesn't mean they hate the club or they're mental or anything, it means they just disagree with you.

Football is largely subjective. It doesn't matter what team you're talking about, or what player, you'll always get a range of opinions from fans when their club makes a signing. It's hardly anything dramatic or new.

A pedant writes:

Football isn't largely subjective, it's entirely objective. It's about which team scores the most goals in each game over the course of a competition.

The opinions, prejudices and predictions of those who are afflicted to care about it are largely subjective, and liable to change based on the flimsiest of variables.

Yours,

A Pedant
Name and address supplied.