Philippe Senderos

[supertom]

One name ( imo a very important one  )  missing is that of Janoi Donacien . At 20 years old and with a history of impressive appearances for the Reserves / Under 18s / Youth Team behind him ,  the time for his introduction into the First Team fold is surely at hand .
His contract , like that of Callum Robinson , is up at the end of this Month and he will likely want assurances re his future at the Villa before signing a new one .
Re Baker , agreed he is not that great but his ( one ? ) redeeming feature is that he is tall with good heading ability , so given our weakness to defend the high ball in recent seasons it would seem foolish to junk him before we get a Defender of equal stature .
Although  having written that I just discovered that Senderos is 6ft 4 ins ( 82kg...big lad ! ) , thus somewhat weakening Baker my proposal , getting coat time I think ...............Godzvilla !

I don't think huge centerbacks are as big a necessity as they were 5-10 years ago. The style in the league is changing. Most of the teams aspire to keep the ball on the deck and prefer forwards with a bit more mobility. Of course there's still Stoke, Palace and West Ham hitting cloud breaking long balls to gargantuan brick houses but they're becoming the exception, not the rule.

Long term future- a CH like Donacian who has a turn of pace, will be better for us than an immobile lump like Baker, who despite his height isn't actually brilliant in the air. It's his best attribute but he's still average in that regard. I'd rather have a smaller guy who's timing and positioning is better. McGrath wasn't 6ft4 but his aeriel ability was top notch. 

[peter w]

At no point have I ever seen Lambert play 3-5-2. It's always been a flat back 5.

last time Herd had a run in the team he was right-side of a back 3. We got belted by someone. Wigan?

[steffo]

Donacien should've been given a chance last season but Lambert doesn't seem to have faith in the young guys from the academy. Hope he gets a game next season, another year of watching Baker is a terrifying thought.

Against Sheff Utd. Baker pulled up in the warm up. Donacien was sub but the clueless three decided Lowton was a better bet at CB.

[peter w]

Maybe they're not as good as some are saying that they are.

[Exeter 77]

I don't think Senderos is necessarily a bad signing in our current position but I keep having a vision of him and Nathan Baker as a central defensive partnership.

[RussellC]

IMO Donacien should be given some game time with the first team during pre-season and then loaned out to a Championship Club for the whole of next season. We've seen the perils of trying to blood young defenders onto a poor side and should aim to avoid doing this again.

[LeeB]

Whether he signs or not won't make a difference. It's a free and a squad player. Like I said it's along the lines of a James Collins; i.e nothing special. What we need urgently is 4 or 5 top starting quality players and that won't happen until the sale is complete.

That is an insult to Collins TBF!

Collins was and is shit.

[Ian.]

With Zat though he actually did ok for us when he was called upon. He was much better than I ever expected him to be.

Only when Laursen was in there alongside him.

It was still a nice surprise, he was better than I thought he would be. I'm sure even Laursen wouldn't have made Baker look any better.

[LeeB]

With Zat though he actually did ok for us when he was called upon. He was much better than I ever expected him to be.

Only when Laursen was in there alongside him.

It was still a nice surprise, he was better than I thought he would be. I'm sure even Laursen wouldn't have made Baker look any better.

I felt the same about Knight, and he's also a member of that elite club, Players That Leave Villa For More Than We've Payed For Them.

[Ian.]

With Zat though he actually did ok for us when he was called upon. He was much better than I ever expected him to be.

Only when Laursen was in there alongside him.

It was still a nice surprise, he was better than I thought he would be. I'm sure even Laursen wouldn't have made Baker look any better.

I felt the same about Knight, and he's also a member of that elite club, Players That Leave Villa For More Than We've Payed For Them.

I know there are not many in the last 10 years who have made a profit but I didn't realise Zat did too.

[LeeB]

Not much, about 500k on transfer fee but it's still something.

[Fasth56]

Whether he signs or not won't make a difference. It's a free and a squad player. Like I said it's along the lines of a James Collins; i.e nothing special. What we need urgently is 4 or 5 top starting quality players and that won't happen until the sale is complete.

That is an insult to Collins TBF!

Collins was and is shit.

Only on one of his better days

[Gregorys Boy]

Senderos will get plenty of games next season. Ron as ever will have a mid winter xmas break so probably won't make 30 appearences and with the bad injury Okore has had it will be wise to not overplay him so can see him and Senderos being rotated.

I'm surprised Clark is getting so much flak, I thought he made improvement at CB last season when he played. Baker deserves all the flak he gets, so many horrible performances after xmas last year.

No I like Clark also, and think he may have a decent future.

People have short memories on Collins.  He actually did very well for us, and in fact was better than Dunne who was seen as the real steal at the time.

[pauliewalnuts]

Senderos will get plenty of games next season. Ron as ever will have a mid winter xmas break so probably won't make 30 appearences and with the bad injury Okore has had it will be wise to not overplay him so can see him and Senderos being rotated.

I'm surprised Clark is getting so much flak, I thought he made improvement at CB last season when he played. Baker deserves all the flak he gets, so many horrible performances after xmas last year.

No I like Clark also, and think he may have a decent future.

People have short memories on Collins.  He actually did very well for us, and in fact was better than Dunne who was seen as the real steal at the time.

Collins and Dunne did very well for us for one season.

The rest of the time, they were an absolute waste of space.

You're right, though, they weren't totally shite. The problem is whether one good season and two or three abysmal ones from a player is acceptable. Not for me, I'd say it reflects pretty poorly on Collins.

re Knight, I am prepared to admit he wasn't quite as awful as I thought he would be, but I still think he was a very poor player.

[Gregorys Boy]

Knight is a championship level player, but then O'Neill was one who sometimes worked better with those kind of players.  And it was a credit to him that many of the players he signed were of a similar irk but yet he still got the best out of him.  Knight actually did well for us, then again it is gutting to look back than we lost Cahill.