Transfer Window - Satisfied or Not?

[KRS]

Agree, but I just can't help but think what our team would have looked liked with those two alongside our current signings.

                       Guzan

Bacuna      Richards    Lescott    Amavi

                 Gueye       Delph

 Traore             Grealish        Sinclair

                         Benteke

Top ten side no problem.

Absolutely no point wasting your time thinking like that...if it wasn't for those 2 leaving then we wouldn't have the quality in the squad that we have today. Anything could have happened with a full season with TS at the helm so I'm not saying it would have been another relegation scrap, but we'll be in a stronger position than where we would have been once this new team are all fit and gel...lets not forget that we haven't had the opportunity to field our strongest lineup in any of the games so far this season. Some of the football we are about to witness could be genuinely exciting...and it seems that we're the only ones that know the potential that could about to be unleashed over the next few months at Villa.

In terms of the transfer window...I'd give it 8/10 simply on the basis that we should have and could have spent £16m on a better forward option(s) than Ayew and Gestede...they're going to need time and patience, but if they can prove they were worth signing then happy to increase that to 9/10.

[paul_e]

I guess the question is over goals, 4 in 4 in the league isn't the most inspiring of starts but it's also not as terrible as some people have made out.  To break it down a little I personally go with roughly 1.5 goals a game as a decent return which will generally see you safely midtable in most seasons, get the defence right with it and you're right up the top end of the league.

I believe we'll get about 9-10 each from Gestede and Sinclair, the former largely by bullying defenders and getting on the end of crosses and the latter with the clear instincts he has in the box so that's 18-20.

I also believe that Amavi, Clark, Lescott, Bacuna and Richards all have a goal or 2 in them so I'd back our defence to get 6-8 between them in the season, so 25ish.

That leaves us looking for about 30 goals from the backup forwards and the midfield (unless the 'groups' above can out-perform of course, which I think Sinclair is capable of doing, he's far better in the box than I realised) and this has been the area that's let us down badly in the last few years, it will be a lack of goals in this group that will see us struggle, not the lack of a replacement for Benteke.  For all the positives about him Delph was part of the problem and Cleverley did a decent job of papering over the cracks with a cluster of goals after Sherwood came in but he still clearly failed to produce what we needed.

The only one from the group that I think comes with a guarantee of goals is Adama (because his pace and strength will lead to plenty of chances) so we really need 1-2 of the others to step up, Grealish opening his account soon would be a big help and the sooner Veretout gets fit and up to speed with the league the better.

We'll have to review this window just before the next one to get a realistic opinion but as of now I think it's gone better than anyone would've imagined so I find it hard not to think it's an 8/10 which could quite easily become more.

To focus on an individual Amavi looks like a truly superb signing to me.  He has some problems defensively but what he offers going forward is impressive and the number of times he steals the ball in front of attackers and creates counter-attacks is remarkable, his reading of the game and reactions are as good as any fullback I've ever seen, he just needs to rely a little less on his pace to get him back in position and remember that it's sometimes ok to just clear the ball long, he gets both of those right and he'll be world class (the last player I called out like this so soon after signing was Benteke and I think Amavi will rise in a similar fashion).

[RussellC]

I think Sherwood’s done pretty well all in all, given that he lost his best 2 players against his wishes and another first-team regular in Cleverley. It’s the first window in memory where the Manager has gone into the market with a thought-out plan of attack, that has been well communicated to the supporters, so all credit to the club for that.

So far, Gueye, Amavi and Traore look like excellent signings and Richards is showing promising signs too. Gestede will be useful, I’m sure, and prove to be worth the £6m spent on him. There’s obviously a rough diamond with Ayew, but I’m hopeful Sherwood and Wilkins can get the best out of him. Lescott is a no-brainer for me, exactly the experience we’ve been missing. From the little that I’ve seen of Ilori he looks to be the kind of ball-playing centre-back we’ve lacked since Southgate’s days. Haven’t really seen enough of Crespo to pass comment yet.

I also really like the fact that we’ve covered ourselves with extended contracts for a lot of the ‘squad players’- even the ones heading straight out on loan. If nothing else, this will allow us to recoup fees for them should they eventually move on permanently.

One further point though – I make it that we still have 26 senior players in the squad, so we’re not going to be able to name at least one of them. Jed Steer maybe? Senderos/N’Zogbia? Or even Gardner?

[mr underhill]

sounds like Tim pulled out of signing Oulare just a few days before the deadline yesterday According to The Sun,  he thought the guy was too raw and would  take too much time to adjust to the PL. Will be interesting to see how he fares at Watford.

[JD]

I'm happy with the players we've signed and while some has hit the ground running like Amavi & Gueye, others like Veretout, Ayew and Gestede may need a bit more time to get up to speed. Given we also have Richards and Lescott as experienced professionals, overall I'm very happy with the window.I haven't even mentioned Traore, or Ilori.

Whereas it would have been good to sign Austin, didn't we show a bit of interest in him early in the window but he was allegedly hanging out for what he called a top team (or did I imagine this)?
Adebayor sounds like a very selfish and greedy nut job, so I'm glad he hasn't signed. I could see him causing a lot of disruption in the changing room. As for Berbatov, he has no club so it's on terms we want or not at all. We don't want to sign 34 year old players on ridiculous money.

Well done Villa.     

[silhillvilla]

We needed a goalscorer and we haven't got the biggest priority sorted . Let's hope Ayew Gestede Kozak Gabby start firing .

[stuart445]

Playmaker that Delph was??? Remind me again how many assists did Delph have last season?

[Villa in Denmark]

We needed a goalscorer and we haven't got the biggest priority sorted . Let's hope Ayew Gestede Kozak Gabby start firing .

That's probably the most optimistic thing I've seen you post on here .

If he does it'll be the most impressive firing since Lambert.

[oldhill_avfc]

Overall the defence and defensive midfield options have been improved markedly as overall units with options on how to set them up.  I'd be very surprised if we conceded more than last year (57).

Benteke is obviously a massive loss.  There are significant doubts as to if any of the central strikers are premiership quality let alone coming close to directly replacing him.  Having said that the overall attacking options are improved.  Sinclair and Grealish look like they're continuing to improve.  Adama Traore looks very lively. 

Again I'd be surprised if we didn't improve on last year (31) but by how much is the main concern.

If you score more than you concede then mid table or above is guaranteed - we aint going to do that.  I can't see the total goals being scored by all our attacking options being 38 or more - regardless of who plays and where they play.  Of course you look to the defenders and defensive midfielders to chip in as well, but that won't get us up to the 50 mark.

The dice has been rolled once again, it could all go horribly wrong but most likely we should improve on last season with virtually zero net spend, but not up to mid table.

So back to the original question - satisfied or not?  Yes-ish ..... would have preferred someone with a modest (say 8-12 goals per season) proven premiership record over the combined Ayew and Gestede.

[AGRIPPA]

Sort-of-ish.....

I read in the Times today that our net spend was £4.4m......thats not a lot of investment really.

Its a bit poor that lerner and co werent willing to invest more than that with the new PL paymenrs kicking in next year.
Another £10-15m wohld have probably got us premiership ready players too..saying that i hope thatthe recent buys come good... cant help thinking there is a bit of hope with it all that a few of the many will come good

[KRS]

Considering the amount of players we need to gel then I think we've done more than enough in this window...lets see how things settle down, and if there's any short comings then all being well then we should have funds available in January. Lets not criticise Randy for not spending a higher net amount yet when theres another transfer window in a few months.

TS has also stated that there's better quality players available in Europe for a fraction of the cost...thats why we haven't signed players with PL experience (presuming thats what you mean by "Premiership ready").

[Marton]

Its Tims first summer window where he finally had a chance to start building a team. The money for Benteke and Delph obviously helped him to manage what I consider in realative terms to be one of the best net results in added value for £ based on needs. Swansea, Watford and maybe Newcastle could claim to rival us based on the situation, budget and demnads in those clubs.

Sure, its possible to be jealous on the signings made by Man, C, Man U and Liverpool. But if we talking value for money, budget and net gain in squad strength (also considering how much talent that walked out the door) and  the overpaying then Tim has outdone them all.

That said, value is always subjective  based on the perspective of whoever doing the evaluation. TS, Learner and every fan probably will never agree about the result.

For now im content...even optimistic. That however will quickly change if Villa fight another relegation battle this season...

[olaftab]

One pleasing aspect about this window is how some clubs have started fighting back against so called player power and money bags. Everton with Stone, Albion with Berahino and Southampton with both Wanayma and Mane have restored some balance.

[KRS]

I think we're seeing the first stages of the knock on effect of the forthcoming increased TV revenue where clubs don't have an immediate need for generating income via player sales and would rather keep hold of their best players than having to replace like for like...albeit the sums being quoted for British players is beyond ridiculous and only serves to enforce TS transfer policy this summer where better quality players at a fraction of the cost are available elsewhere.

[mr underhill]

but Yanited paying £36m for Martial has completely altered the dynamic again, effectively ring fencing emerging young foreign talent for the top clubs. In June we might have had an outside chance of snaring Embolo with a £15-17m bid. Now, post Martial, you couldn't get close to that player for less than £45m. Brilliant young players are now the reserve of Chavski, Man U Man City and Arsenal plus Real Madrid and Barcelona. Yes clubs can choose to ignore bids, but in reality they won't, when so much money is at stake. The other  depressing aspect to this is the intolerable burden of expectation such fees place upon the player himself.